Altered Perceptions
by LastStandofAchilles
Summary: Demythology of Eva in a slightly different universe, where Great Ones slumber and Outer Gods reign from vast reaches of infinity. Shinji is given the choice of serving the goddess Ubbo-Sathla or his fellow man. Both choices are not without consequences.


Altered Perceptions, a fanfic by LastStandofAchilles

Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion, which belongs to Gainax Studios and Hideaki Anno; I do not own Lovecraft mythos elements; Ubbo-Sathla is the creation of Clark Ashton Smith. Requests by any of these entities to remove this story will be honored.

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_A/N: Yes, another Lovecraft mythos story, but I'll hope that the readers aren't tired with all the crossovers. However, this story has been in the works since last September, on and off, through the thick and thin of the author's life. I'm finally getting around to getting the final edits for the first two chapters finished. "Fear", by Tail Kinker beat me to the idea of incorporating the Dreamlands into the storyline (I mean no ill will to him, and I think that his story is executed very well), but my original plot back in August contained a few of these elements. Anyway, I just want to give a heads up that any similarities between his story and mine are passing in resemblance.

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**Altered Perceptions**

**Chapter 1 **

* * *

The purple Evangelion ducked behind the building, ready to fire. The pilot, Shinji Ikari, looked quickly from side to side, hoping Asuka and Rei were ready to fight. He was nervous, hoping, praying that the Angel hadn't seen him duck behind the building. If he had been spied, the Angel would surely pounce on the opportunity. After all, he had done his fair share in wiping out its brethren. Shinji slouched, leaning slightly against the building. He sat, nervously waiting for backup. Not thinking of much to do, he began to clench his fist, hoping for a hand that would guide him out of the situation. Fearing the Angel was sneaking up on him from behind his cover, Shinji poked his head out from behind the building.

The ominous, floating ball hovered only five city blocks away from him, one thousand feet above the streets of Tokyo-3. He pulled back behind the building, and checked his ammunition. He was uneasy behind the building; he didn't know what the Angel was capable of. Time was running out, and he had to do something. Lives were at risk, his life, the lives of the other two pilots, and the hundreds of thousands who sat huddled in their shelters beneath his feet. Over the comm channel, he asked once again if backup was in position. Asuka, already angry at Shinji for standing up to her earlier in the sortie, gave a firm answer.

"No, you idiot! Schiesse! Hold on, I gotta change the power cable."

"Rei?"

"Not yet, Pilot Ikari, allow me another minute to arrive."

_Looks like I'm going to have fight out of this myself. I can do this! I'm the best NERV has now, and if Asuka can take on an Angel alone, then so can I!_ His battle cry, something of a mix between that of a wild beast and a condemned man, sent shivers down the spines of anybody listening in on the communications relay. Shinji flung himself out from behind his cover, and emptied a full clip on the Angel as fast as the gun he was equipped could mechanically allow. To everyones surprise, the Angel simply vanished into thin air, every shot impacting impacting the skyscrapers behind the target. On instinct, Shinji looked up.

The orb, an odd cross between a zebra and a soap bubble, hung above him, slowly floating higher and higher. Shinji looked down to reload his pistol, but stopped as he found himself up to his ankles in an inky blackness, and steadily sinking deeper. He quickly finished the job of changing clips, and fired three shots into the pit. He twisted, trying desperately to struggle free of the quagmire dragging him into the event horizon.

By now, Shinji had lost all presence of mind. "AAAHH! MISATO! ASUKA! REI! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" His cries for help turned into wild shrieking. The parts of his extended body beneath the line separating one existence from another felt numb, his wild thrashing not accomplishing anything. His cries for help continued, but he conceded that it was only a matter of time before he disappeared into the swirling miasma of the unknown. He looked down, as the black pit rushed up through the plug towards him.

"Oh god! Somebo-" The radio abruptly cut to static. Evangelion Unit-01, one of only three machines capable of protecting humanity, was gone, fallen in battle to another unknown enemy of mankind. The airwaves containing most communication inside NERV fell silent, shocked by the sounds of what had just occurred.

* * *

The air was oppressively humid and still, made worse by the heavy scent of ocean and blood. The ocean itself was a sea of death, guarded by crucified caricatures of the Evangelion series. Surrounding the sea, a ring of hills. In the distance, the broken remains of a once proud city stood, its skyscrapers laying in pieces, half submerged in the water. Behind the city was a head of massive proportions, its blood-red eyes open and a twisted smile on its face. Blasted power and telephone poles lay scattered, broken at the top by the shock waves N2 mines. The early morning twilight lent a surrealistic light on the scene, with the a vivid acidic orange slowly dawning over the eastern horizon, signaling the dawn of a new day. For long stretches of time, only the sound of waves crashing ashore punctuated the silence. Several puffy clouds, a dull gray brown, rolled away towards the full moon, now setting in the west. A streak of thick red, which glowed brightly during the night, began to fade into the brightening sky. On a beach of pale, almost sickly yellow sand, two still figures, one young boy and one young girl, rested side by side. 

The girl woke first. She gasped at the post-apocalyptic scenery. A chill running down her spine, she quietly sat up, then nudged the sleeping figure beside her. "Shinji. Wake up." Her voice was cold, not really wanting the boy as companionship, no, she just wanted him awake to assure herself that she wasn't the only living thing on the planet. Fear barely hid itself behind her eyes, focused intently on Shinji. Her scattered, broken thoughts were all that provided a tenuous barrier against the reality of the situation. One thought managed to float to the top of the sea of rolling thoughts._Survival. _As much as she hated the thought, the two would have to survive together. Shinji rolled in the sand, still deep in slumber. A tear formed at Asuka's cheeks as her fears began to come true. Perhaps the boy was dead, or in a coma. He would be useless to her. "Shinji," She said, her voice wavering, as she hit him in the side. "Wake up." Off in the distance, the enormous head bored into Asuka's soul with its eerie red-eyed stare. She didn't want to be alone, not again.

Shinji awoke, his bloodshot eyes staring straight up into the dawn skies. A sense that something was not right gripped him, so he sat up and looked around, shivering. His surroundings were alarming, feeling like something had changed drastically since he had fallen through the rabbit hole of the 12th Angel. How he had come to on a beach with Asuka, surrounded by wasteland, his mind could think of no explanation. He looked over at Asuka. She was dressed in her plugsuit, her left eye covered in thick bandages. He looked down, and discovered her right arm was bandaged tightly as well. She sigh escaped her lips, and her thoughts calmed for the moment, looked out over the beach, then across the strangely colored ocean. _It looks like LCL...must be the twilight or something._ He continued following Asuka's gaze across the ocean, finally seeing what she saw.

Rei. No, Rei's _head_. Rei's _giant_ head. Rei's giant, _decapitated_ head.

He screamed.

* * *

Silence reigned over the city. Two Evangelions stood atop one of the many hills that ringed the city, silently guarding their base camp. The red Unit-02 was still draped in the thick steel wires used to retrieve Asuka from the skyscraper she had scaled as she escaped from the shadow under Tokyo-3. A tent city surrounded a small school building, now serving double duty as a command center. Numerous wires were taped to the ground, running back and forth between tents. Orange-suited workers and technicians alike ran frantically through the narrow avenues between the tents as they tried to get a complete handle on the situation. On a relatively calm embankment overlooking the city, a raven-haired woman surveyed the surroundings. 

The Angel was now sitting directly over Tokyo-3, most of the downtown area falling inside its heavy shadow. Through her binoculars, Misato surveyed the tanks and artillery pieces that had been hauled in to surround the Angel. The sun, setting far out over the ocean, bathed the city in an eerie orange light that escaped accurate description. The spotlights on buildings around the Angel began to light and focus their beams on the floating component, while many smaller spotlights marked the outer perimeter of the shadow. Streetlights flickered down streets untouched by the 700m wide shadow, adding to the impression of the smothering shadow. Ritsuko walked up to Misato, and the blonde doctor betrayed a gasp at the surrealism of the sight in front of them. For a moment, she gawked at the sight, mouthing the words _My God, _then managed to regain her composure. She tapped Misato on the shoulder. "There's a meeting in five minutes." Misato gave a small nod, eyes still peering through the binoculars, praying for the boy with whose care she had been entrusted.

* * *

"According to our data, what we perceive to be the shadow is actually the Angel, with the floating orb only appearing when the imaginary circuit that forms its body closes." Ritsuko said, standing in front of a whiteboard covered in various mathematical equations and drawings. Around her sat a large crowd of operations planners and tacticians, who were in attendance to draft a battle plan against the Angel. Many scratched their heads in puzzlement over any proposed line of action. At the back, the two remaining pilots sat on several of the still unpacked boxes and watched, attempting to make sense of what Dr. Akagi said. 

Misato beat them to the obvious question, and raised her hand. "So what exactly _is_ the shadow?"

Ritsuko answered. "It is a Sea of Dirac, a complex mathematical dimension, which is formed by the suspension of the normal physics that make up our universe. We have no idea what is on the other side of the line separating us from the inside of the Angel. It could be another universe entirely." The group began to look around at each other and whisper amongst itself to debate lines of action that could be used on the Angel.

At the back, however, a defeated Asuka muttered to herself. "So, there's no way to beat it."

* * *

The apartment was quiet, save for the slight noise that radiated from Shinji's SDAT, and the contented clucks of Pen-Pen as he swam about in the bathtub. Shinji lounged quietly inside the door frame leading from the dining room to the living room, simply content with his SDAT player. The sync test earlier that day had taken more out of him than he thought. His head bowed, as he was on the verge of sleep, but feeling comfortable where he rested, he decided just to move to his futon when he awoke later that night. His eyes fluttered open before closing again. Asuka sat at the table with her head resting in her arms, eying Shinji without fear of a negative reaction from him. Blissful half-thoughts filled her head, ranging from a hug to a kiss to something a little more. A strange look filled her face as her legs slowly kicked back and forth underneath the table. Her mouth opened before she could completely think her words through. 

"Shinji, wanna kiss me?" Shinji's eyes flicked open. It took a moment to process through Shinji's head. Suddenly, his mind snapped into a state of crystal clarity. He ripped out his ear buds in surprise. "W-w-what?!?"

It took Asuka a moment to realize what she had said. Her fierce pride now on the line, she decided not to back down. Her resolve hardened as she repeated herself. "You know, kiss me." She puckered her lips as if to drive the point home. Her sleepy mind was still not at full capacity, and some of the more romantic images that ran through her mind continued unabated.

Shinji stuttered, weighing his options. He had hoped the German would say something like this to him, he had admired the fiery redhead, almost to the point of hero-worship. Given her nature of playing pranks like this on him though, Shinji's mind was plagued with self-doubt. "A-a-are you s-s-serious?" Asuka nodded. He gulped, gasping for breath. _This would be an easy choice if it were anyone but Asuka..._ Stalling for time, he replied, "I d-don't kn-now."

Asuka's face soured. Whether intentionally or not, Shinji had insulted her. As her pride clouded her thoughts, her mind began to click into a different state. Abandoning her attempts to start a romantic night, her mind instead turned to humiliating the boy. "Awww...afwaid to kiss me on the anniversary of your mommy's death?" Her voice was childlike, an attempt to bait a response from Shinji.

It worked. "NO!" Shinji yelled loud enough, he hoped, to get Asuka to back off. Asuka's eyebrows lifted slightly. This was an unexpected response from the Third Child. Instead of a simple "I'm sorry" followed by a quick retreat to bed, he had actually responded to her for once. She decided to press the advantage, and continued.

"Then here I come...you brushed your teeth, right?" Asuka asked, taking time to stall and take in the moment. She hoped for a little more than a kiss, although she was sure she wasn't going to get it. _If only this were Kaji...Shinji makes a good substitute though._

As Asuka drew nearer to him, Shinji felt dizzy, and time started to swirl. At that particular moment, reality felt thin, a narrow line separating him from events past and future. Strange sensations of familiarity flowed through Shinji, an electric current of deĵa vŭ. Asuka faded into a blur of Misato, then Rei, as he helplessly watch the lips draw nearer to him. _Do you want to become one...to be of one body and soul?_

_Here I come..._

_It would be...pleasurable._

_Hey, idiot, you should consider your good fortune!_

_Become one body and soul?_

_One soul?_

Shinji felt pressure against his lips, and a pincer-grip on his nose. Asuka's tongue made attempts to enter Shinji's mouth. _An adult kiss. So she did have something else on her mind._ Never one to impede others, Shinji didn't stop her. For a moment he enjoyed it. However, the oxygen in his lungs told him that it wasn't going to last forever. As he ran out of breath and began to turn blue, he began to hope that Asuka would stop sooner rather than later. Pulling away would mean certain rejection to her. No relief came. He pulled away for a gasp of air, opened his eyes, and found himself back in the sea of electronic equipment and murky LCL.

* * *

Asuka looked out over the school roof, out towards the target. "Recklessness, defying operational orders, I guess the idiot got what he was asking for." 

Rei stepped beside her, slightly puzzled by Asuka's monologue. "Tell me, is it anything different from what you would have done in the situation?" The fact that Rei had confronted her, much less spoken, set Asuka's blood boiling. Rei continued, after Asuka began to turn a bright violet red. "If I recall correctly, you ignored orders and attacked the 7th Angel on your own terms, and placed complete blame in failure on Pilot Ikari."

"Pissed off, are we, Wondergirl?" Asuka asked, a flame flickering into her eyes. "Super Shinji is there for yet another helpless young girl!" In her mind, she had found a weak spot in Rei, something she would have to throw in the next time they argued. She filed it away, and got back to the matter at hand, arguing. "Shinji does deserve all the blame! He can't keep up with my skills! I have to lower my skills to his level! He didn't support me well enough when we fought! He doesn't listen to orders, and he's going to get us all killed!"

"I trust Pilot Ikari's decisions. He has does not consider himself to be above others when he pilots the Eva." Rei said, beginning to feel angry with Asuka for her lack of understanding of the original question.

"I don't have to pilot Eva for any reasons but my own!" She slapped Rei across the cheek, knocking Rei off balance. Rei caught herself, and lifted her hand to her cheek in slight shock. She had half expected a slap, since she was arguing with Asuka, but she remained quiet as Asuka continued to explode in her face. "I am not like that idiot! I don't even see why the Invincible Shinji even likes you, you're just a doll!" Asuka paused for a moment, her brain rapidly imagining dots as fast as she could connect them. "Oh my god! Are you Shinji's girlfriend or something? It would explain why you're sticking up for him!"

Rei was quiet, but she betrayed a slight blush at the suggestion. She did like Shinji in a way that was difficult, if not possible to explain, but she felt it was irrelevant to the conversation. "No. I support Shinji because he is altruistic. He does not need a reason to fight against the Angels, he does it because he is concerned for the welfare of humankind. You pilot to back your ego." Asuka clinched her fists, a shock running through her body. Her arms shook violently, as she held back tears. Rei's statement, no matter how much Asuka wanted to deny it, was true. Her mouth started to run, but couldn't find words to say.

Misato, who had kept a close watch on the conversation, noticed Asuka balling her fists, and decided to step in before Asuka became more violent. Another injured pilot was not what NERV needed at the moment. "Asuka's right, Rei, Shinji acted arbitrarily and against orders." She paused, thinking of something that would help calm Asuka for the next few hours, or at least defuse the situation on hand. "I guess...I'll have to punish him when he gets back."

* * *

A frigid wind blew across the great snowy desert in front of Shinji. He spun around, only to meet the same monotonous landscape of rolling, frozen waste. The sun hung low in the west, casting its dimmed and reddened rays across the landscape, eerily distorting the shadows of objects around him. He was alone, lost in a vast, ancient, continent of ice. He looked down at himself, clad in thick winter gear. An ice pick and flashlight hung from his belt. An irresistible urge told him he must dig down into the snow and layers of ice. Shinji dug through the powder for several minutes, and finally, his glove struck a metallic object, a small bronze hatch. He rested his hands on it, exhausted from the digging. Heat radiated from the handle through his thick winter gloves. He struggled with the hatch, using much of his energy to twist the tight handle. Finally, the handle rotated free, which allowed Shinji to lift the hatch. A warm, humid breeze blasted out from the hatch, melting the snow around it. In the ice-melt around him, Shinji noticed a flat metal surface buried only about a foot beneath the snow pack. Around him, small mounds of snow took on new meaning as objects protruding from the deck he stood on. However, the warmth of the hole beckoned to him, preventing him from walking out to explore the features on the surface. Shinji was hesitant to climb through the hole, as creeping fear gnawed at his stomach. In a lifetime far distant from this one, there had been another hole, one that swallowed him whole, and refused to let him escape. 

A bitter gust of cold wind blew through, as if to settle the question. At the moment, Shinji needed all of the shelter he could get, so he looked more closely at the hatch. There was no ladder leading in or out, but on closer inspection, the floor was just within reach of Shinji's arms, just low enough for him to pull himself back out if he needed to. He lowered himself into the small chamber, and rejoiced in the abundant warmth. He removed his jacket, already beginning to sweat, and pulled out his flashlight. Through the dim light pouring through the hatch, Shinji could see that a hallway led off at a slight downward incline into darkness. Curiosity, now more powerful than his fear, Shinji walked down the hallway. At odd intervals, the hallway would double back on itself, and continue still further into the darkness. Finally, the walls pulled away and opened into an enormous room. The narrow, rectangular hallway morphed into a large, arched chamber. Shinji reached into a coat pocket and pulled out a flashlight.

The room stunned Shinji with its sheer size. Five or more tall arches, all covered in strange glyphs and sculpture, ran up the wall, providing support for the chamber's high-vaulted ceilings. Large, opulent paintings plastered the wall between the arches. The size and beauty of the room was on par with Shinji beholding the Evangelion for the first time. His fear was almost completely vanished as a sense of discovery and exploration gripped him.

Shinji walked towards the paintings, fascinated by them. The artwork was decayed, paint missing in many places, but the remaining paint retained its bright colors. The murals were in a league distanced from anything the human mind could even begin to describe. In its fluid motions and broad strokes, it showed scenes of a life aeons dead. He scanned the drawings, awestruck by its careful attention to detail. To Shinji, there was something both familiarly human, yet terrifyingly, utterly alien about the artwork. However, the fact registered in Shinji's mind that whatever had painted the murals on the wall, it was long forgotten by the time human civilization rose out of the murky depths of its creation. A shiver ran down his spine as he ran his fingers along the artwork. It was a smooth, bitterly cold metal, another wonder. Whatever had crafted the interior, it had been able to produce lasting art on a metallic surface. _Where is the warmth coming from? It should be frozen solid in _here. The thought struck Shinji. If the metal was cold, then why was it warm where he was standing?

His curiosity piqued again, Shinji swung his flashlight around as he walked deeper. The chamber continued on deep into darkness. The walls fell away and the roof rose higher as the room became even larger. Finally, after hours of studying the artwork and walking deeper into the chamber, he stopped. The faintest outline of something made itself apparent in the faint beam of his light. As he walked closer, he followed the object's strange contours. It looked to be made of stone, but a fear inside Shinji said that it was something organic. For a moment, he was at a loss for words. He recognized it, something aeons old, but something he used on a regular basis. The flashlight clanged to the floor, then winked out. There, in the shadows, stood a massive, unarmored Evangelion.

* * *

"At 845 hours, Coordinated Japan Time, the pilots will raise their AT Field, then rapidly change between positive and semi-positive field states to disrupt the Angel's AT field. At 846, the bombers will release their load of 992 N2 mines into the Angel. At 850, after the area has cooled below the vaporization threshold, we will turn on the scanning equipment, recovery teams will attempt locate Unit-01. We should be able to find Unit-01 within moments of the recovery of scanners. Under no circumstances are you to attempt retrieval of Unit-01. We can't afford to lose another Evangelion." Ritsuko said, laying bare the entire mission plan. She pulled a cigarette from her pocket, and lit it. 

Rei nodded, but Asuka was ready with a question. "But Shinji, he'll be killed?"

"The Commander has stated that the recovery of Unit-01 is his highest priority." Ritsuko said. Asuka decided not to question further, her own confused thoughts jumbling her mind. She decided to walk down to the lockers, and take a shower to clear her head before the operation began, a few hours in time. As she walked aimlessly towards the lockers, a thought managed to make itself distinct from the jumble._So the Eva pilots, even the Commander's own son, are replaceable at NERV. Well, then I will simply try harder to be the greatest Eva pilot. I will become too valuable to just be thrown aside._ A sneer of German pride crept across her face.

Misato, standing next to the good doctor, slapped her. "Telling these kids that Shinji was useless and that they could be replaced the same way?!? For God's sake, Rits, they're still children! They're fourteen, and fighting on our request! How could you be so careless with them?"

Ritsuko stood there, as her anger built, her hand held against her cheek. "Because its the truth! If any one of those pilots were to fail tomorrow, we'd have two or three ready to take their place!"

Rei spoke up, a rarity for her anytime, and a special event when she spoke up to settle a conflict. "Major Katsuragi, I have heard the Commander himself speak of the interoperability of the prospective Eva pilots with the current equipment. However, Commander Ikari has expressed his wishes to keep the organization's more experienced pilots on the active roster, but has stated that he would sacrifice a pilot if it meant keeping the current Evangelion units alive."

"Still! They should get better treatment than light bulbs! They're CHILDREN! And for you, to treat my son-" She stopped. _Did I really mean to call Shinji a son?_

"Major, I believe you have forgotten the first rule of military relationships, don't get too attached to your charges." Ritsuko said, smug with being given opportunity on a silver platter. "I don't want the integrity of this mission risked because you have an emotional relationship with one of the pilots."

Misato slapped her again. _Either she's rubbing off on Asuka, or Asuka's rubbing off on her. Damn PMS,_ Ritsuko thought darkly. Ritsuko was surprised she remained as calm as she had. She attributed it to the fact that she would react the same if she were in Misato's shoes, or at least she would have hoped she would. But right now, Misato's yelling didn't matter to her, the Commander was angry with her for allowing Unit-01 to be swallowed by the Angel, and no man or Angel on earth could compare to the tortures Gendo Ikari could bring when angry.

"For our sake, it would probably be best if I commanded the operation for the next 48 hours." Her face softened, slightly. "Misato, you should get yourself a stiff drink."

Misato was shocked by Ritsuko throwing her out of involvement in the mission. "Do you even have the power to do that?"

Ritsuko nodded, smugly. "As Director of Project-E, I'm _well_ within my bounds to do that."

A dirty look, almost a sneer of hatred, flashed across Misato's face, but she managed to hide it behind a neutral facade. Ritsuko pulled out a cell phone to call in orders to the commander of the bomber wing. She then wandered off into the temporary outdoor headquarters, all the while barking orders and pointing out improperly set up equipment.

Later, on a remote hill, just under the nursing glow of a satellite station, a woman stood on a lookout which gave a panoramic view of the city. Misato stood there, in shock of the situation. Whether she should back out of her responsibilities as Major, and work on helping the broken kids she had taken charge of, she didn't know. _Ritsuko, where has your soul gone?_ To continue to help the two she cared for would lose Misato her job, and probably detained for knowing information classified to the public. Tears ran down her cheek. It was going to be a long, hard night for a long, hard decision.

* * *

Shinji stood on a cliff overlooking a serene valley. The valley was wedged between between two steep, alpine ridges a quarter of a mile apart. A river flowed out of a dense forest, through a small clearing, then turned, following the valley as it disappeared behind on of the slopes. Clinging to the slopes were not trees as Shinji as was used to seeing them. Odd, glass-like stems several feet in diameter rose from the ground, terminating in a while bulb at the top. Appendages similar to fern leaves rose from the bulb, covered in small, multi-colored flowers. None of these sights held Shinji's attention though. In the clearing, two giants looked across the long valley at each other. One was a giant creature of dazzling, pure white about 7 stories tall. Long, flat blades continued up the arm past the shoulder, with the flat part facing towards the head. Across the valley from Shinji stood a beautiful woman with red eyes and blue hair. Shinji thought that he had seen the woman before, but couldn't figure out where. It resembled Rei, but somehow a more complete version of her. Perhaps it was the head that he had seen when he had woken up on the beach. His thoughts were quickly scattered again as the giantess looked from the giant to Shinji, standing nearly a quarter mile away. 

Shinji's heart stopped from fear, as the giantess stared into his soul. Suddenly, she turned again away to face the giant. Shinji looked down at the giant's feet. Around it, hundreds of life-forms that Shinji had never seen milled about uneasily. The giant slowly slouched, then stood up, straight as a board, as if it were a puppet. Shinji felt death coming for the giant, a whistling scream that could not be heard, only felt. Shinji turned to see a black lance screaming towards the scene. It whistled overhead in a ballistic arc, casting a shadow over Shinji, then slammed to a stop, in a sickening collision with giant. Flesh and flecks of blood sprayed through the wounds as the giant began to lean. The injured being slowly looked up at Lilith. The two made eye contact for a moment, then Adam fell forward. The two prongs sank deep into the ground, while Adam's stiffened body slid down the poles.

Around Adam's motionless body, the creatures looked towards their progenitor. Many swayed nervously, other's began to flee. An ethereal pulse swept out from the body. As the wave spread from the body, the animals and plants around Shinji flashed into a white liquid, which in turn faded into a gray powder. Moments later, before Shinji could regain his senses from witnessing the mass-extinction, the ground began to heave violently. Large slabs of stone peeled away from the ground and flew off into space. A second pulse erupted, transforming rock into white glass, flat as far as the eye could see, leaving the surface a desolate moonscape. Suddenly, the glass began to peel up to form a shell around the impaled giant. Shinji looked down at his feet to see the ground rushing by as it journeyed to form the prison of the giant. The term "First Impact" flashed into his head from nowhere. After minutes, the roar stopped, and faded into dead silence. A massive white shell that extended for as far as the eye could see was exposed to the surface. Dirt and pulverized rock began to rain back down on the surface, burying the egg to be left undiscovered for long aeons. Shinji stood alone with Lilith, who examined the landscape. She again looked at Shinji, a look of bemused recognition flashed through her eyes. Shinji turned his eyes away, hoping to keep the rest of his sanity.

* * *

Shinji slowly opened his eyes. A sensation of paralysis left Shinji struggling to move about in the entry plug, now a deep, murky orange sludge. A swirling purple mist began to form in front of Shinji as the weight in his extremities began to lessen. The clouds swirled into a twisted version of the torso of a human being, as currents in the LCL tried pulling it apart. The vapor-being began to express itself, slowly, trying to converse in an unfamiliar human language. 

_Human. Fellow child of Ubbo-Sathla, the mother of many names, I am a messenger awoken to serve his long awaited task. In a few short minutes, I will be forced back into the Chaotic Voids from which the earth mother enclosed my thoughts and gave me form. I have fulfilled my task of imparting you with the memories of mother. The final message—the most important of all that will be revealed today—the many named mother, who is known to your kind as Lillith, will not accept another rebellion from her own spawn. You have been chosen to prevent this rebellion. My time has come, I surrender you to the world from which you come._

The purplish mist faded away, and the sentience it radiated vanished. A vision flashed through Shinji's head, almost a loop of an event that had happened before. A brown haired woman began to flicker in Shinji's vision, appearing and disappearing with the movements of LCL within the entry plug. The voice echoed eerily through the cockpit of the Eva. _Is this enough?_ Her voice sounded unsure, as if she felt a sense of deja vŭ. Her next statement was more certain. _That's good for you then. _Shinji passed out, as Evangelion Unit-01 began to go berserker.

* * *

The early morning twilight was just giving way to daylight. A dewy mist rose from the ground, and an eerie calm was settled over the city. Then, a gentle roar morphed into deafening blasts as 500 heavy bombers orbited the Angel. Five groups of 100 vapor trails in triangular patterns streaked towards each other, flew past each other, then disappeared into the distance. Two large figures stood guard at the edge of the void, watching carefully. If all went well, it would be over in five minutes. 

Both Rei and Asuka were on edge. If their fellow pilot were still alive, then his life would in all likelihood instantly extinguished, even if he were trying his hardest to get out. A tear ran down Rei's cheek._Pilot Ikari...it was enjoyable to know you_. Asuka sat across from the Angel, directly opposite Rei. She sat stoically, but her hands twiched and shook as the tightly gripped the fine-control handles in her entry plug. The first bird calls of the day began to fill the air as the sun broke the eastern horizon. It was a scene of delicate beauty, bound to be upset in one way or another in moments.

Ritsuko provided oversight on the operation, in a building that gave a panoramic view of the battlefield. She looked over the city with both resolve and sadness. She glanced down at her watch. According to her best estimates, life support would be completely out in a few moments. She thought about the dangers it presented, but decided that the potential payout was greater than the risk. She made a split second decision. "Move the schedule up twelve minutes in case there's any hope of recovering him alive, commence the final run." A computer screen in front of her showed the five groups as they reached the edge of their straight line flights and began to loop back around. "Three minutes until bombing commences."

Misato watched from her support VTOL. From her distance, the Evangelions could fit between her thumb and index finger. Even though the Angel's body would theoretically contain the blast, there were fears that as soon as the body were disrupted, energy leakage from the extra dimensions could reach a critical point and cause a fireball in the downtown area. Misato watched the bomber groups slowly zeroing in on their position. The radio cackled with chatter, along with the countdown signal. It was a matter of moments before the point of no return was upon them.

Two bright orange hexagonal grids extended around the Angel. Both Rei and Asuka were positioned where their AT fields interacted and resonated, bending the normally straight walls into a ring around the Angel. For a moment, it was a game of waiting. Suddenly, the ground began to rattle violently. Red blood sprayed up from rocks that shoved through the Angel's body. Cracks shot towards the center of the black void, and the ground beneath began to crack and fly open. As the cracks neared the center of the shadow, the floating orb turned a sickly brown. It began to distort, as if something were trying to shove its way out.

"Shinji!" Misato yelled over the radio, sensing Unit-01's imminent victory over the Angel.

"This is command. Abort the run, and put the N2 mines on standby." Ritsuko said, as Misato's voice burst over the radio. "It can't be! His batteries should be drained by now!"

The ball was now an egg shape, and something was clearly squirming around inside of it. Suddenly, with a hideously cartoonish spray of blood, a hand broke through. An arm exploded out the hole, followed by another one. The hands pulled back, grabbed both sides of the rip, and pulled the tear even wider. Unit-01's head thrust through the hole, before completely tearing out of the body. It landed catlike on the ground, while ghoulishly large quantities of blood flowed off the armor. Asuka couldn't help a gasp, as she looked at was essentially a mirror of what she was piloting.

"My god, what are we playing with here?" Ritsuko muttered under her breath. "This is not our creation! This is a demon!"

The Eva's berserker eyes shot open, two icy white slits. It began to walk towards a retrieval site, as if nothing unusual had just happened to it. Suddenly, the Eva collapsed into a heap, power supply exhausted. The entry plug contained within ejected, rocketing away on a ballistic course over Tokyo-3, the wild ride only stopped by the harsh impact with solid ground outside the city. From start to finish, the Eva was berserk, only 45 seconds had passed. But to those in command, it seemed as if a lifetime had come and gone.

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Misato's VTOL was the first to arrive on the scene. Misato, too nervous to wait for for VTOL touch down, jumped out and ran over to the dented and damaged entry plug. One end was smashed where it had landed on the ground, while the middle had bent at a 45 degree angle from the stress and heat. Misato struggled with the tight manual hatch, finally opening it after a large effort. Sickly, coagulated LCL dripped and plodded from the crack where the hatch had just cracked open. She pulled it open, looking at Shinji. He was unconscious, while violent spasms racked his body as he forced the LCL back out of his lungs. The semi-solid mass looked an even paler shade of yellow. His head rolled away from her, as splashes echoed inside the chamber. 

Misato's mind clicked into that of a mother. Shinji's spasms stopped, but he didn't move. "Shinji! Shinji! Are you okay? Shinji!"

Another forceful blast of LCL came out of his lungs, splashing to the floor. Misato noticed a slightly blue tint to his face. "Shinji! Oh god!" She paused for a moment, to see if there was anything she could use to help Shinji. Misato shook from the fact that Shinji was dying, but kept her composure, one of the reasons that she was a Major at NERV. She managed to hoist Shinji's now lifeless body over her shoulders. "It's gonna be okay, Shinji. I'm not going to let you die." A thick blood scent filled the plug. Murky slime piled against the filtration vents. Disgustingly long columns of goo hung from the top of the plug. Misato gagged at the sight. She choked on the bad air inside the plug, but carried on, knowing that the closer she could get him to the paramedics as they scrambled on scene, the better the chances that Shinji could survive.

Finally, her head burst into clear air. She slid Shinji through the door, then rolled him out onto the ground. She could see paramedics rushing to collect the boy, but she started pressing on his lower back to force the coagulated LCL out from his lungs. Within moments, the doctors were providing first aid to the boy. After a few minutes, it became clear that Shinji was to survive yet another close call with death. Misato took the cross that hung around her neck in her hands. Although never really a religious person, she prayed her thanks to whatever god or gods were up there. As the doctors rushed Shinji into an ambulance, Misato followed. She leaned over the side of the stretcher, pulling him into her arms. "Shinji! Don't you ever do that again! Don't...disobey orders...like that! Don't..."

He regained consciousness for a moment, long enough to mutter cryptically, "I wanted to see them again...one more time."

Asuka, inside of her Eva, watched the scene through the telephoto cameras that served as Unit-02's eyes. "Wasn't she going to punish him?"

END CHAPTER 1.

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_A/N: Alright, I should be through with the edits of the next chapter in less than a week, before I have to write completely new material. You might want to buckle down if you like this story: after that, well, there might be some waiting._ _Also, I would like to have a couple of volunteers preread for me, hopefully, they will help me out with some of the problems in my style. Also, I would like to offer my services as a prereader to any of you who need one. I'm only a click away. Finally, if you like this story, please leave a review. If you have any problems with my style, I'm not afraid to hear them. _

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